Noiseless rudder post bearing



sept. 7,v 194s.

E. S. AKER NOISELESS RUDDER POST BEARING Filed May 15, 1945 INVENTOR. Mder AS el',

Patented` Sept. 7, 1948 '.:Evender .S.. "Alter,V West Point Pleasant-z, 'N'. .1.;- .Florence 1L. .-Aker executrixof said Evender S.

Aker,v deceased Y Application'Mayl', 1945,"SeraYNog59%;837

3- Claims".` (Cl. 114-169) 1 This invention relates to improvements in combinedlbearingv and stuffing-box for'boat'rudder posts; and the invention has-r'efer'ence;morefparu ticul'arly, to a novel noisel'essy rudder'pos't bearing and stuflingibox'structure;

y Theinvention has for'aurther object to pro# vide.alnovelrudderpost bearing and 's'tuiiing box adapted-to beaff-Xe'd! to a Iolaatfhilllsol` as to extend from the interior to exterior or thel'atter, .and whioh--fcomprises Yan 'endwi'se fopen.' bearing `body havingV suitable' 'means fiori ii'xedly attaching" the same toa-boat hull', together' with novel journal rneans for' rotation 'iin lthe bear-ing body passa-ge andfadapted tote aiixed to therudder post to turn therewith; said `means having 'a bearing portion of:non-inetallicmateriai', such asrrubbe'r or the like,l .in noiseless rotatable engagement with thewallsof saidL bearing :body passage.

TheinVention-h'as 'fori a further' obj ect-'t04f provide a4 n'oiseless :rudder bearing' and` stuflinglbox struc"- ture characterized as: above set forth wherein `the journal means 'comprises 'opposedhjournal members respeotively'entered `in thev upper andil'ower ends of .the bearing body passagewior rotation thereir-rand adapted to be "arxed to thev rudder' post to tur-n therewith,` saidA "journal members having" bearing'portions of: nonemet'al-l-icl materiali,

suclifas' 'rubber or' tl'ie like, for"noisele'ss'rotatable engagement'with the walls f ofsai'd; bearing body passage; `arid said journal members'beingfadjustablyr mounted onthe rudder post-withtheir inner opposed ends'fspace'd apart to dene astufling box chamber within `the bearing body passage,` adapted for the reception of a suitable compressiblepacking material to be disposed in direct interposition between the rudder post and bearing body, and whereby adjustment of the journal members toward each other may be utilized to tighten land set up the packing material in leakproof joint forming relation to the'rudder post and bearing body.

Otherobjects of the invention, not at this time more particularly enmnerated,will be understood from the following detailed Jdescriptiorr vof `the same.

An illustrativeembodiment of' the invention is shownj` inthe accompanying A drawings, in which:

Figfl'i's a fragmentary sectional Viewof the stern portion of a boat hull equipped with rudder means, and the novel noiseless bearing and stufling box structure for mounting the rudder post; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the noiseless rudder post bearing and stuflin-g box structure, the journal members of which are shown in elevation; Fig. 3 is a view 2, slmlarfto'that orrlgf'z; but snowing the journal members in section; "andFig 4' .is a transverse sectional view, taken 'onl'ineI-II in Fig'. 3.

'Similar characters of reference are employed in the-hereinabove describedviews, to indicate corresponding'parts.

Referring' tothe drawings, the referencel char actor llvindicatesthe'sternportion of a boathull, aflixed to thebottom of which is therudder post bearing body Aand stuffing box structure through Whichthefrudde'rpost I'I of a rudder I2 extends.v

Said bearing body and stuffing box structure comprise a tubular bearing body I3', usually made of a suitable corrosionr'esistant metal such as brass, bronzeA or the like. Sai'd bea-ring body I3 is pron vided intermediate its -ends'with a laterally extending footing plate` or lflange `I4i adapted to be bolted-or otherwise xedly securedlto the interior side ofthe hull bottom, whereby the lower end portion `of Asaid `bearing body extends downwardlythrough and'exteriorly' of said hull bottom, and the upper end portion of saidbearing body upstands "within'the hull'- interior;

lA'flixed upon the rudder post I I is `a rudder post j'oi-irnalingmeans-having` external bearing means made of-'non-metallic' material, such as rubber or the like; which is dametricallyl sized to lit the bore IBo'fA the bearing body I3, so as to rotate in engagement wiith the walls of `said bore, and which, being non-metallic, will turn noiselessly therein. 'In a preferred embodiment thereof, said journaling means comprises opposed journal members A and B respectively entered in the upper `.and lower end portions of the bearing body bore 'I '5L Each journal member comprises an intern-al sleeve VIIiY cfrigid' material, preferably metal, hai/'ingl an internal diameter corresponding I to the external diameter of the rudder post II,

sofas to" snugly 'lit around vthe latter and telescopicall'y slide thereupon.4 suitably connected to 'anl exteriorlydi'spose'd -end ofv said internal sleeve I-B`, soia-s' to be unitary "therewith, is a c'ol-Iarlmernber I1' "also made of rigid materiali, preferably n'x'etal. `Suitably bonded to and along the` lengt-hofsai'djyint'ernallsleeve I6' below` said collar member II is-"an external sleeve or'bearing portion I1`8- made of noni-metallic material, preferablyf'o'f 1rl'ibber'ol the like. Said external sleeve or' bearing portionl I 8 isslzedtorpossess an external diameter correspondingito ithe"l internal diameter of the bore I5 of said bearing body I0, so as to snugly fit the latter and yet freely turn therein. Threaded through the collar member I1 and contiguous portion of the internal sleeve I6 are one or more set screws I9, by means of which the to the other within the interior of said bearing body b ore I5, and are suitably spaced to thereby dene an annular space intermediate the rudder post II and the walls of said bearing body, which space provides a stuffing box chamber 2li. posed within said stuliing box chamber 20, and

Dis-

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a boat bottom of a metallic rudder post bearing afxed thereto and therethrough, whereby the lower portion thereof projects exteriorly into the water, a rudder post, means within the boat to suspend said rudder post for downward extension through the axial bore of said bearing, said bore substantially exceeding in diameter the diameter of said rudder post, a pair of opposed journal members mounted on said rudder post, said journal members being respectively entered in opposite ends of said bearing body bore, each said journal mem- I ber comprising an internal metallic sleeve slidthus between the inner ends of the journal members A and B is a suitable compressible packing material 2i To set up or compress the packing material 2|, whereby to produce a leak-proof joint between the bearing body I0 and the rudder post II, one of said journal members, `as e. g. the journal member A is secured by its set-screws I9 in immovable relation to the rudder post II, while the other said journal member, as e. g. the journal member B, is loosened, by relaxing its set-screws I 9, so that it can be axially moved on said rudder post Il. The loosened or released journal member B is now forcibly slid downward on the rudder post I I toward the xed journal member A, thereby compressing the packing material 2| between the opposed inner ends of said journal members, so as to set up or laterally expand the packing material to tightly engage its surfaces with those of the rudder post II and bearing bodywalls in tight leak-proof joint forming relation thereto. After the packing material is thus set up, the setscrews of journal member B are tightened to bind or x the latter to the rudder post, and so as to retain the packing material in theaforesaid set up condition.

It is ordinarily desirable to supply lubricant to the packing material 2| from time to time; to this end a grease cup 22, preferably of the squeeze injection type, is -connected with and through the wall of the interior part of said bearing body I0, in position to communi-cation with the stufng box chamber 20.

The upper interior portion of the rudder post II is ordinarily supported in a bracket bearing 23 mounted within the boat hull interior, and afxed to the rudder post II above said bracket bearing is a steering arm or lever 24 by which the rudder post and rudder may be operatively turned, and by which the rudder post and rudder is supported against longitudinal displacement.

It will be understood, that by reason of the interposition of the rubber or other non-metallic external sleeves or bearing portions I8 of the journal members between the rudder post II and the walls of the bearing body, that said rudder post will be supported so to both turn noiselessly in the bearing body, and so as to be free from noise due to vibration ofthe one within the latter. Not only is a noiseless rudder mounting thus provided, but the structure also providesv additionally a very simple and easily manipulated and adjusted meansfor packing the rudder post and bearing body against leakage.

able on said rudder post, each metallic sleeve terminating at its outer end in an annularly enlarged ycollar portion, and an external sleeve of rubber bonded to each internal metallic sleeve, said rubber sleeves having external diameters corresponding to the internal diameter of said bearing body bore so as to engage and turn in contact with the walls thereof, the collar portions of said journal members having means to releasably secure the latter to said rudder posts, and packing material intermediate the rudder post and the walls of said bearing body and to which inner ends of said journal members are opposed, said journal members being relatively adjustable axially to compress said packing material therebetween.

2. In the combination dened in claim 1, wherein the interior part of the bearing body, which is contiguous to said packing material, is provided with squeeze injection type means for supplying lubricant to the packing material.

3. The combination with a boat bottom of a metallic rudder post bearing aiiixed thereto and therethrough, whereby the lower portion'thereof projects exteriorly into the water, a rudder post, means within the boat rto suspend said rudder post for downward extension through the axial bore of said bearing, said bore substantially exceeding in diameter the diameter of said rudder post, a pair of opposed rubber journal members mounted on said rudder post in spaced apart relation and so as to rotate with the post and in contact with the walls of said bearing, packing material interposed between the opposed inner ends of said journal members between the walls of said bearing and said rudder post, said journal members being relatively adjustable axially to compress said packing material between the opposed ends thereof, and means to fix said journal members on said rudder Ipost in such relatively adjusted position.

EVENDER s. AKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

